At what ages do you prefer to drink your German Rieslings and what do you drink them with?

Kabinett?

Spatlese?

Auslese?

They’re pretty easy to love at all ages, but I really adore them when they develop serious secondary aromas and the fruit begins to thin out. The delicacy they have then is captivating to me. I still recall the epiphany of a 1990 Eymael Urziger Wurzgarten Auslese drunk in 2002.

I’m still waiting on my 99s, 01s and 02s Mosel-Saar-Ruwers of all levels. The Spats and Kabinetts from 01s and 02s (and the wonderful QbAs of 02) seem to be evolving slowly that that point. The 99s tend to be quite primary still. Sadly, I have only a few bottles that predate those vintages.

My favorite match is with smoked fish. Can’t be beat!

Generally speaking, when they are not trocken, I like mine well-aged, past the young sweet stage and middling petrol age. Then they can be revelatory, and that’s what I pay for in German Riesling. I don’t think there’s any formula for how long this takes - it varies by producer, vintage, vineyard. You have browse notes and taste yourself. I rarely open a Kabinett from a good producer, though, less than five years after buying it.

I’m still in the accumulation phase so I can have many age examples in 5-10-15 years. But it is hard not to grab one when we do take-out Thai food.

I have enjoyed drinking them from age 25 to my current age!

As far as with what, I will quote Hugh Johnson when asked what to drink sweeter rieslings with: “TV”.

More seriously, I really do like riesling at almost every stage of development.

For food matching, I like Chinese food and Italian subs. Seriously, make a true submarine sandwich with Genoa salami, capracola, provolone, lettuce, onions, tomato, and oil and vinegar on a loaf of Italian bread and try it with a good spatlese or even auslese. Heaven!

I like them young. One to three years old. Then I still like them, but wish I would have had them earlier. I have some from the 90s and I’m wondering WTF I kept them for.

Using Auslese as an example. At my wife’s recent birthday dinner, we had an 07 Selbach Oster as our dessert wine. Some were having dessert, others a cheese course. The somm let me know he had 6 bottles of a 1990 Schloss Schonbourg (sp?) and he could get one chilled for us. We accepted and had the privilege of tasting one with sweet, bright fruit and the other full of petrol and herbal notes. Both were fantastic, so I’d say enjoy them at any stage.

I like that! And it makes sense when you think of all the great meats and and mild cheeses in Germany, and the Germans’ love of things with vinegar.

Pork chops from Bryan, a little apple sauce, and a kabinett, match made in heaven.

Older.
I’m drinking my mid-late 80’s Spatleses now.
Drink em with asian food, smoked salmon, pork.
Auslese and riper by themselves, maybe with cheese.

Pretty much any time. Wish I had a lot more 71s right now

I love them fresh off the boat. I love them middle aged. I love them fully mature.

I like the young ones with vinaigrettes and asian food. I liked the aged ones with everything. I find them the most versatile wines. I also love drinking them by themselves too. Riesling is my favorite sipping wine.

In general Rheinhessens younger than Rheinpfalzs younger than Nahes younger than Rheingaus younger than Middle Mosels younger than Ruwers & Saars.

Spatlesen usually younger than Kabinetts and Auslesen, not sure why.

I drink them with reverence.

Dan Kravitz

Like many here, I like them pretty much all ages. Chinese food, smoked meat of any kind that isn’t smothered in a heavy or sugary sauce (fabulous with unadorned pulled pork straight off the smoker with a little mustard).

Though I’ve found that I drink a lot less German wine now that I live close to a wide selection of very good local breweries.

German wines are some of the most flexible in terms of food to be eaten with them – I’ve even had them with rich steaks. They’re perfect with some modern dishes that tend towards sweetness, something with fruit in the sauce, or anything that’s super-rich, as well as with high-acid or vinegary salads. I just match the level of riesling (Kabinett, Spatlese, Auslese) to how much sweetness/richness there is in the dish.

This means that Auslesen have to be pretty old to be served with more-or-less savory food, or the fruit and sweetness of the wine will overwhelm the flavors of the dish. Unless you’re serving them with really rich cheese, a combo that works great.

I think the '01s are drinking great now, but are still pretty young. A number of '02s I got were a bit low on acid, and are better to drink now than they will be in five years. The 1990s are drinking great now. I only have a few 1976s still, but they drink great though usually feel like their acid is a bit low.

I like to load up when the years is great, like 2001 (and I hope 2007), but that’s not a reason to not buy the other years (had a great Prum Auslese from '04 about a month ago). You just have to try some and see.

Fortunately, there are plenty of German wines that stick around for awhile in the stores, so you can try and then buy. The super-popular ones, like J.J. Prum and Donnhoff, don’t lend themselves to try-and-buy because they’ll frequently be gone, or very expensive, when you go back to buy them – but you can pretty much buy them without trying them, they’re so reliable.

Very nicely stated

Very nice with bratwurst. My collection only goes back to 01 so I’m in the waiting phase. I did have a fantastic 03 Donnhoff Norheimer Dellchen Auslese about a month ago. One of my best bottles of wine so far this year.

Generalizing wildly, either 1-2 years after release or more than 10 years after release, not so much in the middle.

I love ‘em at all ages, but as a general rule I prefer them as follows:

Kabinett: upon release to 10 years past vintage.
Spatlese: 5 to 20 years past vintage
Auslese: at least 10 years past vintage.

While I do enjoy young Spatlesen and Auslesen, I always find myself thinking it would have been better to wait on them.

As for food pairings, I love ‘em with Thai and Mexican cuisine … or just about anything spicy. The riper ones also go very well with stinky cheese, although I do prefer a Tokaji or Sauternes in those instances.